Thanks Gyr_Falcon. I think you are on to something. I looked up Symphoricarpos albus and it looks like it grows in places with regular moisture. This one gets no moisture other than rain, and the leaves on this one look thicker than the ones for Symphoricarpos albus. But similar enough that I put just Symphoricarpos into the usda plants database and checked out other members of the genus. Symphoricarpos occidentalis seems to be a good possibility. I guess the seeds are going to tell for sure, so I'll wait for them. In the meantime, I found the other gardenwebber's old posts and emailed her, so maybe she will email back if the email hasn't changed. Thanks!

I wonder if you asked the head gardener/groundsman at a botanical garden, if he/she might know of a nursery that will carry the size you are looking for? They sometimes have to fill in empty places, and also may have a 'stash' of large container plants in their back-up nursery. I wonder also, if one might plant a rapid-growing "temporary" tree to fill the light-blocking needs and act as a nursery-tree for slower growing natives? The 'temp' could be cut down after the native had reached a suitable height. Does that sound workable? Here is a link that might be useful: CA Botanical Gardens

My ninebark is the species. It grows to about 8 or 9 feet. It's just finished blooming, and while most of the fruit capsules are brown, I have some individuals whose capsules turn red and stay red all summer. Very pretty. Chokeberry is Aronia. I have mostly A. melanocarpa, because I can buy it. Slow growing, but pretty. Coralberry is not the same as snowberry. Same genus, different species. Snowberry is much taller (up to about 4 feet) and doesn't sent out runners. Coralberry stays maybe 2-3 feet tall and sends out long runners in all directions that root. It's good for my islands because it fills in quickly. I plant shrubs very close together--a foot or so. I want the islands to look crowded, and they do after a year or so. I'll try to post some pictures. Most species shrubs do have white flowers. If you're going to go natural, you start to think in terms of what the pollinators like, and they obviously are attracted to clusters of white flowers. I think it's fascinating that the second each species finishes blooming another takes up the slack. It seems to be timed so they don't compete for pollinators--first serviceberry, then crabapples & C. florida, then chokecherry and chokeberry and black cherry, then ninebark, then early viburnums, then shrub dogwood, then later viburnums, then elderberry. I find it fascinating, and I no longer get tired of white flowers.

Bumping this back up to the top in case there are any new Norther Gardening forum members that would like to sign on. Please use the link to sign your name or username as an interested party (do not sign here). Thanks and Happy SPRING to everyone! Barb southern Ontario, CANADA